Matt Flynn looking like best QB option for Dolphins

General Manager Jeff Ireland heads home from the Senior Bowl in Mobile, Ala., today, likely no closer to identifying the quarterback he hopes to bring on board for next season than he was when he left last Sunday.

Still, amid all the swirling rumors and reports, one fact seems to have emerged: Green Bay backup Matt Flynn remains the best option to be under center when the Dolphins open the 2012 season next September.

Peyton Manning certainly got fans in South Florida excited when he said earlier this week he doesn’t expect to be in Indianapolis next season. Miami would be a solid playoff contender and possibly even one of the top two or three teams in the AFC with that addition. But that move involves a lot of what-ifs: Does Manning really want to come to the AFC East and face Tom Brady twice a year, or would he prefer going somewhere like the NFC West where he’s the stud QB from the minute he arrives? How comfortable would the Dolphins (or any team, for that matter) be hitching their wagon to an aging signal-caller whose career could end at any time? And wouldn’t Manning, who likely will get to pick his destination, be more comfortable going to a team that’s already perceived a contender, as Brett Favre did a few years back with Minnesota?

The second viable option is rookie prospect Robert Griffin III out of Baylor. Griffin is a tremendous athlete, having qualified for the Olympic Trials in the 400-meter hurdles as a 17-year-old four years ago, and is coming off a tremendous 2011 season that culminated with the Heisman Trophy. Problem is, when Landry Jones and Matt Barkley both decided to return to school next year, he also became the only viable first-round QB in the draft after Andrew Luck, who is all but certain to go No. 1 to the Colts. Cleveland and Washington, both of whom pick ahead of Miami, are also desperate for quarterbacks, and St. Louis, which has the No. 2 pick, knows it, so the Rams can entertain offers and are sure to get a rich price. Beyond that, ESPN draft expert Todd McShay said Griffin played in a very basic offense at TCU and has a lot to learn about running an NFL offense. He might spend as much as an entire first season getting up to speed, which means another year of Matt Moore. While that’s not the worst alternative, it’s not what Dolphin fans who are already thin on patience need.

That leads us to Flynn. While the idea that the Dolphins may have hired Joe Philbin as head coach so they could get the Packers’ backup in a so-called package deal doesn’t hold water, the fact they did hire Philbin has to make them the frontrunner if and when Flynn gets to free agency in March. Flynn worked closely with Philbin and quarterbacks coach Tom Clements – who conceivably could follow Philbin to Miami – the past four years and it’s likely Philbin will be installing an offense very similar to what the Packers have been playing, so that would be an easy fit. A source close to Flynn said Wednesday that Flynn holds Philbin in high regard. If he’s a free agent, the odds have to favor him coming to Miami. And if he’s not – say, the Packers franchise him and ask the Dolphins for a draft pick – that doesn’t seem too high a price if Philbin really believes he can be the guy.

And that’s probably where it will end up. Philbin knows Flynn’s talents as much as anyone, and knows if he really does have the kind of potential he showed when he threw for 480 yards and six touchdowns in the Packers’ season finale against Detroit. If Philbin decides he wants to hitch his wagon to Flynn, expect that to be the direction the Dolphins take.